A large and vigorous winter storm brought heavy snow to the mountains and valleys of eastern Washington and the eastern Columbia Basin. In addition to widespread mountain accumulations of 12 to 14 inches and valley and eastern basin accumulations of 3 to 6 inches, windy conditions after the snow ended produced areas of blowing snow closing roads and crippling traffic in near Blizzard conditions…
Every event with a place to put it; 15 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS OTX wrote it up.
A large and vigorous winter storm brought heavy snow to the mountains and valleys of eastern Washington and the eastern Columbia Basin. In addition to widespread mountain accumulations of 12 to 14 inches and valley and eastern basin accumulations of 3 to 6 inches, windy conditions after the snow ended produced areas of blowing snow closing roads and crippling traffic in near Blizzard conditions on the Washington Palouse and the Camas Prairie area of north Idaho.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Spokane, WA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 26, 9:27 PM PST, 2 hours 33 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Spokane WA
927 PM PST Mon Dec 26 2016
.SYNOPSIS...
An active winter pattern can be expected this week. A fast moving
storm system will bring the chance for moderate to heavy snow and
gusty winds tonight into Tuesday. More snow will be possible
Thursday night and Friday and again over the weekend.
Temperatures will remain on the cool side of average for much of
the week.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
Minor updates to the forecast to account for some differences in
snowfall intensity rather than changes to pops as a large
baroclinic band slowly sags through Eastern Washington and
Northern Idaho and spreads snow from west to east tonight into
Tomorrow. Highlights were updated as well. /Pelatti
&&
.AVIATION...
06Z TAFS: IFR/LIFR ceilings and visibility associated with
snowfall across the aviation area tonight and tomorrow will show
some decrease and end near 12Z for the KEAT and KMWH locations til
as late as 20Z for KGEG and vicinity along with aviation points
directly south. Increased southerly winds during this period will
allow for some blowing and drifting of snow along with perhaps
brief intervals of low level wind shear for KLWS and KEAT tonight.
/Pelatti
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
Spokane 24 34 25 28 22 32 / 100 70 10 0 10 50
Coeur d'Alene 24 34 26 29 23 33 / 100 100 20 10 10 50
Pullman 25 36 27 30 23 32 / 100 100 30 10 10 20
Lewiston 26 41 30 36 25 36 / 90 90 20 10 10 10
Colville 25 33 19 29 23 30 / 100 40 10 0 20 50
Sandpoint 23 32 27 31 24 31 / 100 100 30 10 20 50
Kellogg 22 31 26 30 22 32 / 100 100 70 50 20 40
Moses Lake 26 38 27 36 22 30 / 90 10 0 0 10 10
Wenatchee 22 35 25 34 24 30 / 100 10 10 0 20 30
Omak 25 33 16 29 23 29 / 100 20 10 0 20 50
&&
.OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
ID...Winter Weather Advisory from 1 AM to 3 PM PST Tuesday for Lewis
and Southern Nez Perce Counties.
Winter Weather Advisory from 1 AM to 10 AM PST Tuesday for
Lewiston Area.
Winter Storm Warning until 8 AM PST Wednesday for Central
Panhandle Mountains-Idaho Palouse.
Winter Storm Warning until 10 AM PST Tuesday for Coeur d'Alene
Area-Northern Panhandle.
WA...Winter Storm Warning until 8 AM PST Tuesday for Northeast
Mountains-Okanogan Highlands-Spokane Area-Upper Columbia
Basin-Washington Palouse.
Winter Weather Advisory from 1 AM to 3 PM PST Tuesday for
Northeast Blue Mountains.
Winter Weather Advisory from 1 AM to 10 AM PST Tuesday for Lower
Garfield and Asotin Counties.
Winter Weather Advisory until 7 AM PST Tuesday for Moses Lake
Area-Waterville Plateau.
Winter Storm Warning until 4 AM PST Wednesday for East Slopes
Northern Cascades.
&&HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA 334 AM PST MON DEC 26 2016 IDZ001>004-WAZ033-035>037-271145- NORTHERN PANHANDLE-COEUR D'ALENE AREA-IDAHO PALOUSE- CENTRAL PANHANDLE MOUNTAINS-WASHINGTON PALOUSE- UPPER COLUMBIA BASIN-SPOKANE AREA-NORTHEAST MOUNTAINS- 334 AM PST MON DEC 26 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH IDAHO... EAST CENTRAL WASHINGTON...NORTHEAST WASHINGTON AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SNOW WILL INCREASE OVERNIGHT ACROSS THE REGION. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY A FAST MOVING WINTER STORM WILL BRING THE POTENTIAL FOR SNOW AND GUSTY WINDS INTO TUESDAY. MODERATE TO HEAVY ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER NORTHEAST WASHINGTON...THE NORTH IDAHO PANHANDLE...THE PALOUSE...AND SPOKANE AREA. THE HEAVIEST ACCUMULATIONS WILL LIKELY OCCUR OVER THE CENTRAL IDAHO PANHANDLE WHERE HEAVY SNOW IS EXPECTED TO PERSIST INTO TUESDAY NIGHT. WAZ042-271145- EAST SLOPES NORTHERN CASCADES- 334 AM PST MON DEC 26 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL WASHINGTON. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SNOW WILL INCREASE NEAR THE CREST THIS AFTERNOON. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY HEAVY MOUNTAIN SNOW IS EXPECTED OVER THE MOUNTAINS OF THE CASCADE CREST INTO TUESDAY. MOTORISTS WITH PLANS TO DRIVE OVER THE CASCADE PASSES SHOULD MONITOR THE ROAD CONDITIONS AND FORECAST CLOSELY. WAZ034-038-041-043-044-271145- MOSES LAKE AREA-OKANOGAN HIGHLANDS-WENATCHEE AREA-OKANOGAN VALLEY- WATERVILLE PLATEAU- 334 AM PST MON DEC 26 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL WASHINGTON...EAST CENTRAL WASHINGTON AND NORTH CENTRAL WASHINGTON. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY A FAST MOVING WINTER STORM WILL BRING THE POTENTIAL FOR LIGHT SNOW TO CENTRAL AND NORTH CENTRAL WASHINGTON INTO TUESDAY MORNING. IDZ026-027-WAZ031-032-271145- LEWISTON AREA-LEWIS AND SOUTHERN NEZ PERCE COUNTIES- NORTHEAST BLUE MOUNTAINS-LOWER GARFIELD AND ASOTIN COUNTIES- 334 AM PST MON DEC 26 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY A FAST MOVING WINTER STORM WILL BRING THE POTENTIAL FOR LIGHT SNOW AND GUSTY WINDS INTO TUESDAY.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
18 heavy snow, 1 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Seven inches of snow was reported at Metaline Falls.
A spotter in Northport reported 4.4 inches of snow accumulation.
Seven inches of new snow accumulation was reported at Boundary Dam.
A spotter in Clayton reported 4.5 inches of new snow accumulation.
A spotter in Evans reported 4 inches of new snow accumulation.
Holden Village recorded 17.1 inches of new snow which fell through the day December 27th and continued until the morning of December 28th.
The Stehekin Village COOP observer recorded 28 inches of new snow which fell through the day December 27th and continued until the morning of December 28th.
CoCoRaHs observers in Plain and Leavenworth measured 6 inches of snow which fell through December 27th and ended the morning of December 28th.
A CoCoRaHs observer in Peshastin measured 7 inches of snow which fell through December 27th and ended the morning of December 28th.
Four inches of snow fell in the early morning hours in Colton.
Four inches of snow fell in the late night and early morning hours in Albion.
After 3 to 4 inches of snow accumulated overnight across Whitman County, windy conditions developed during the day on 12/27 and forced the closure of several roads on the exposed terrain of the Washington Palouse due to blowing and drifting snow.
In the Davenport area 5 inches of accumulation was reported from 14 miles north of Davenport and 4 inches fell 11 miles north of the town.
Five inches of new snow accumulation was reported from Almira.
Five inches of new snow accumulation was reported from Almira.
Six inches of new snow accumulation was reported at Lincoln.
Several reports of 4 inches of snow accumulation were received from spotters just south of the city of Spokane, with 1 to 3 inches in the city itself and the areas just to the west of Spokane.
Four inches of snow accumulation was reported in the town of Opportunity.
Four inches of snow accumulation was reported in the town of Mead.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, December 2016
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 672134, 672136, 672150, 672163, 672164, 667294, 667295, 667297, 667298, 672015, 672053, 672054, 672056, 672057, 672058, 672059, 672060, 672061, 672062.